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AIT: New Avenues in Allergen Immunotherapy

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Allergic Diseases – From Basic Mechanisms to Comprehensive Management and Prevention

Part of the book series: Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology ((HEP,volume 268))

Abstract

During the last decades a substantial increase of allergic diseases has been noticed including allergic asthma and rhinoconjunctivitis as well as food allergies. Since efficient avoidance of airborne – and often hidden – food allergens is not possible, allergen immunotherapy (AIT) is the only causative treatment with the goal of inducing allergen tolerance in affected individuals. Efficacy as well as safety of AIT significantly depends on how the allergen is presented to the immune system, meaning both the route and the form of its application. Here, new ways of allergen administration have lately been explored, some of which are auspicious candidates for successful implementation in the therapeutic management of immediate-type allergies. While the first oral AIT has been approved recently by the FDA for the treatment of peanut allergy, further interesting routes of allergen application include either epicutaneous, intradermal, intranasal, or intralymphatic delivery. Besides, rather the immunologically relevant peptides instead of whole allergen may be administered to develop tolerance. In this chapter, we will describe these new and promising avenues of allergen application in the field of AIT. In addition, we will discuss their potential for future treatment of IgE-mediated allergic diseases enhancing therapeutic efficiency while further minimizing the risks of adverse events.

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Abbreviations

AIT:

Allergen immunotherapy

APC:

Antigen-presenting cell

Breg cells:

Regulatory B cells

EPIT:

Epicutaneous immunotherapy

IDIT:

Intradermal immunotherapy

ILIT:

Intralymphatic immunotherapy

LNIT:

Local nasal immunotherapy

OIT:

Oral immunotherapy

SCIT:

Subcutaneous immunotherapy

SLIT:

Sublingual immunotherapy

Th cell:

T helper cell

Treg cells:

Regulatory T cells

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical & Experimental Allergology, Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, Germany

    Wolfgang Pfützner & Christian Möbs

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  1. Wolfgang Pfützner
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  2. Christian Möbs
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Correspondence to Wolfgang Pfützner .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Medicine, University Augsburg, Medical Faculty, Augsburg, Germany

    Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann

  2. Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Klinik für Dermatologie, Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Torsten Zuberbier

  3. Division of Immunodermatology and Allergy Research, Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Hannover Medical School, Hanover, Germany

    Thomas Werfel

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Pfützner, W., Möbs, C. (2021). AIT: New Avenues in Allergen Immunotherapy. In: Traidl-Hoffmann, C., Zuberbier, T., Werfel, T. (eds) Allergic Diseases – From Basic Mechanisms to Comprehensive Management and Prevention . Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, vol 268. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/164_2021_514

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